04/28/2023
Wow.
This is Sandra "Sandy" Hemme.
Sandy has spent the past 42 years in prison, for a crime she clearly did not commit.
Sandy was convicted for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke in St. Joseph, Missouri, after police exploited her mental illness and coerced her into making false statements while she was sedated.
Why would police do this?
Well, possibly because there's evidence that Ms. Jenschke was actually killed by a police officer.
This February 2023, Sandy's attorneys filed a petition for her release, based on this evidence, which had been withheld by the Missouri state government for all these years.
At times during her interrogation, Sandy was so heavily sedated that she couldn't even hold her head up, and she made multiple contradictory statements that didn't align with the facts of the case.
Michael Holman, a St. Joseph police officer, admitted to being near Ms. Jeschke’s home at the time of the murder, and his white pickup truck was parked near the scene.
Holman had also attempted to use Ms. Jeschke’s credit card the day after her murder, and her earrings were found in his possession, along with jewelry stolen during another home burglary.
Holman claimed he was at a motel near the victim’s home during the time of the murder with a woman named "Mary".
However, when asked by police he refused to give details about "Mary" or the motel room they stayed in.
All three witnesses from the motel and attached gas station told police they did not remember seeing Officer Holman or Mary that day.
Despite this, Sandy was arrested and prosecuted for Ms. Jenschke's murder.
During trial, which lasted one day, the only "evidence" presented was that she had "confessed".
Her attorney did not present any evidence.
Prosecutors withheld the evidence that Holman was the real murderer, of course.
Thankfully, The Innocence Project has taken on Sandy's case, and are fighting to get her exonerated and set free.
Sadly, this won't be last time something like this happens, until we end the "thin blue line" culture of police lawlessness.
End qualified immunity.
End prosecutorial immunity.
Hold bad actors in government fully responsible for their actions.